CNET links

Been long since I posted. Here are some CNET links.

http://help.cnet.com/ipod/9602-12576_39-0.html?messageID=2509842

http://help.cnet.com/ipod/9602-12576_39-0.html?messageID=2505216

http://help.cnet.com/ipod/9602-12576_39-0.html?messageID=2505280

Steal Magnolias

OK, so I couldn’t resist the pun on the movie title. But the subject of this post is not the movie at all. It is yet another social bookmarking site that joins the bandwagon of such sites. We already have del.icio.us, StumbleUpon and many other social bookmarkers. These sites basically allow you to store and share your favorite links with others across the world. The home page of these sites typically features links that are most popular among its users. Now to add to this is Magnolia.

The biggest question that comes to my mind now is…does all this choice translate into a better experience for me as an individual, how many sites will I remember at the end of a day? I may visit a few out of curiosity but may not be regular on them at all. Add to that a dozen social networking sites, tech news sites, tech blogs and memes, and what-have-you and I can surely see myself heading towards Web-burnout. God forbid that should happen though. Because, the Web has opened a hundred (or more) new doors for us and given us a fantastic medium to discover, share and grow.

.NET 3.5 Product Roadmap

Scott Guthrie has posted excellent roadmaps for Web products as well as for client applications. Check them out!

Web Product Roadmap

Client Product Roadmap

Behold WPF!

I am putting here links to some old posts (not mine). The context is relevant right now because of the VS 2008 and WPF 3.5 launch.

Whats new in wpf 3.5

and

WPF vs Windows Forms

Top 10 Ten things to know about VS 2008 and .NET 3.5

Okay, so this is not something new. People have been talking about these features since many months now. But for some (including even me, because even I am not yet familiar with all of the new features), this may still be a novelty.

Check out this article by one Daniel Moth

http://www.danielmoth.com/Blog/2007/11/top-10-things-to-know-about-visual.html

Hi! This is your Aloe Vera calling…

Imagine waking up one morning at a distant hotel and receiving a call from…..your houseplant back home!

If you watched “Good Morning America” a popular TV show telecast every morning in the US, or if you were an ardent technology enthusiast who regularly keeps track of trends and technologies, you would know that the above scenario is not far-fetched. It’s a reality today. All thanks to the new advances in technologies.

Botanicalls, for example, is an ongoing technological project that allows your plants at home to call you by phone or even email. A bunch of excellent brains, some wired sensors and hardware, a couple of protocols, and some nifty PHP scripts and a lot of hard work is what it took for the Botanicalls team to convert the idea into reality. Taking care of indoor (or even garden) plants will no longer pose a problem. When plants need water, sun, fertilizer or simply want to say Thank You to you for being a caring owner, all they need to do is place a call.